Past Stories

Manga Studio 5

School Days Page 15

Amidst the chaos that has been my life of late, this particular comic was extremely hard to do. I had not less than three full versions of scripts for this one. It started off with the ladies being upset at the boys and having found out about their wild weekend, but that just didn’t seem right. So I set about re-writing it and coming up with the angle that launches Lily out of Bud’s life for the next decade or so (they get married in 1987 according to Old Bud). Then I drew that version of the script and absolutely hated the way it looked. There was a pencil sketch of the first draft in the Member’s area for a while. I even started to ink that version, but with every frame I inked, my hatred of the poses and drawing grew worse until I finally said fuck-it and completely re-organized the comic… AGAIN! I took the past week to slowly draw this comic; doing so in between visits to the hospital and getting the family organized for summer. As I did, I began to like what I was seeing.

This lead to inspiring me to finish the final page of this story. It is now scripted and sketched on paper. I rough each comic on paper since I do full page comics now. So, I really like the final page and will draw it this week and post it next Monday, barring any more emergencies (and I sure as hell hope they’re done for a while).

Then it will be Summer Vacation for the comic. It will come back Monday, August 1st. I will have a HUGE announcement concerning the future of the comic at that point… one I think you all will like.

In the meantime, enjoy your “Summer In The City” and keep good notes of your summer vacation so we can compare in August when we reassemble for the next leg of the 1977 saga! See you then and take care gang.

1977 as we know it IS ENDING. Wait, what?! That’s right. The comic in it’s current format is done. Now that sounds depressing, now doesn’t it? It is until you read THE NEXT SENTENCE.

What is going to happen is the comic will get a new name and will take place in current time. Yes, Old Bud and his un-named only Daughter are returning. Since Bud is me, he’ll be 54 and his daughter now 21. As a single Dad (remember, Lily had somehow died by this time) he’s faced with raising a daughter who has suddenly decided to follow in his wild footsteps… from 1977.

Okay, now there will be plenty of flashbacks, so the 1977 gang is not going away… far from it. Lots of stories to be told, but now they’ll be told through from Old Bud’s perspective. I have always loved the film “Princess Bride” and how it was told by the Grandfather to the Grandson. It allowed for breaks in the story as we got to know the Granddad and Grandson in those breaks. It provided for some fun transitions too. So, 1977 will become that type of story. I think it will be fun and open up a whole Universe we’ve yet not explored with these characters.

And yes, the old gang is coming back to get together with Bud for the first time in 20 years. What will they look like? What are they doing now? How will reuniting after all these years effect them? Is Lorraine still hot?

I’m intrigued about the things to come and look forward to it Byron! Although, I have to admit, you’ve done such a good job capturing the essence of the 70’s that I’ll miss them. Granted I was but a wee lad in those days, however your comic brought back a flashback now and again that didn’t cause me to immediately re-repress!

So, the new comic with the new name, is it maybe “The New Adventures Of An Old Fart”?!? *grin*

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of 70s references and flashbacks. I have two more full storylines involving the 1977 gang, and I’m sure I’ll come up with more. But I can mix it up and work in some current issues as well with Bud being a single father in current day. The political jokes alone are worth it. I missed out on the Bush years, but with idiots like Rep. Weiner around, well, the jokes just write themselves.

They say write what you know. Sounds like you’re taking that to heart, Byron. This is an absolutely wonderful concept, I think it’s going to take us in whole new directions without you having to start all over again. Plus you’ve left it open to return to 1977 whenever you damn well please! Good luck with you new storyline. Like Boston says: “A new day is breakin’ and I don’t mind where I get taken, the road is callin’, today is the day!”

To be honest, I’m struggling with many things and it use to be the comic could out-weight those distractions, but they’ve piled up again and I need to knock them down with a sledge hammer. I can do it, but it takes a lot of energy; energy that would normally go here but is drained out of me.

She’s taking it easy and we’re going to specialists to see what happened. The tests were inconclusive and that means it’s time to have a second or third opinion. We’re eating a better diet now, which never hurts, but it was a wake up call for the entire family. Thanks for asking man!

As a man far wiser than me once said. “the only constant is change…”. It’s just the continuing evolution of the strip, and I’m sure that just as is happening in your personal life with lifestyle changes due to your wife’s “event”, only good changes will come to the strip as well. Besides, inevitably, we all had to grow up…, er…, get older, huh? Great to hear that things are going better for the missus!